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EXCLUSIVE: House Republicans are sounding the alarm about the costs of a prolonged Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown as the funding lapse drags on with no end in sight.
The House Homeland Security Committee will hold a hearing next Wednesday examining the security risks and financial hardship many DHS employees are facing as a result of the shutdown, Digital has learned. Senior officials from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the U.S. Coast Guard and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) — agencies overseen by DHS — are expected to testify about how the funding lapse is impacting their operations and the well-being of their personnel.
House Republicans have slammed nearly all Democrats for withholding their support for a full-year DHS measure amid a massive spring travel season and a heightened threat environment amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran. The department is still expected to be shut down next week after Democrats panned the White House’s latest counteroffer on reforms to immigration enforcement, which Democrats have demanded to end the funding lapse.
“Amid one of the busiest travel seasons and as we face heightened physical and cyber threats from the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism and other adversaries, it is deeply troubling that DHS’s core mission continues to be undermined by Democrats’ political games,” Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., said in a statement. “Each day this shutdown continues, it jeopardizes the safety of Americans and creates worsening financial hardship for the frontline DHS personnel who work hard every day to protect the homeland.”
Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, will hold a hearing next week on the Department of Homeland Security shutdown. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Aaron Schwartz/AFP via Getty Images)
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The shutdown’s impact on air travel has become a growing headache for Americans — 170 million of whom are expected to pass through the country’s airports during the spring travel season this year.
More than 50,000 TSA employees have not received their salaries during the prolonged shutdown, leading some to quit their jobs or not show up to work, according to the House Homeland Security Committee.
Among that cohort, more than 360 TSA employees have resigned during the 34-day partial shutdown, and roughly 10% of agents did not report to work on Sunday, according to the TSA.
Passengers move through a TSA security checkpoint as agents conduct screenings at Houston’s Bush International Airport. (Fox 26 Houston)
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These staffing constraints have led to hours-long security lines in some of America’s largest travel hubs, though some airports still appear to be processing passengers relatively quickly.
Lines at New York City’s JFK and LaGuardia airports were under 20 minutes Wednesday evening.
FEMA staff, 85% of whom worked through the shutdown in fall 2025, are likely reporting to work in similar numbers without pay. FEMA leadership has warned that the agency could struggle to respond to a major disaster event in a shutdown.
The hearing comes as Democrats are proposing legislation that would fund every DHS sub-agency that does not handle immigration enforcement. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., announced Wednesday that Democrats intend to force a vote on the measure by filing a discharge petition. The petition would have to secure a handful of GOP signatures to trigger a vote on the underlying bill.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, March 6, 2025. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)
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Garbarino criticized Democrats’ proposal in a statement to Digital.
“I hope my colleagues on the other side of the aisle recognize that there is far too much at stake to continue blocking full funding for the department, and that any piecemeal funding efforts simply fail to meet the moment,” Garbarino said.
Senate Republicans have blocked similar legislation in the upper chamber, arguing that all of DHS — including its immigration enforcement functions — must receive full-year funding.
